Ticking Clocks and Beating Hearts
by Candaru
Summary: Agamya is polite to everyone, just like her parents taught her to be. But she was never taught what to do if somebody wasn't polite back- and Sanjay Julien is not one for formalities. Oneshot, OC-centric. *Contains innocent smol child crushes!*


(A/N: I wrote an OC oneshot… what is my life… anyways, while it does make sense on its own, this story is intended as a supplement to Several Dead Legos Play Cards- specifically to chapters 12 and 15 of it. [At the time I'm posting this, chap. 15 hasn't actually been written yet, so… spoilers/teasers, I guess? x'D] This is a short story of the first time Agamya and Sanjay met; they're both very young, so keep that in mind. And since my A/N is probably as long as the story itself by now, I'll shut up now and continue after the fic. XP)

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"Stop playing with your sleeves, sweetie."

I cheerfully ignored my father and continued to try to fix the loose thread that had been bothering me for what felt like an eternity (although it was probably closer to ten minutes). The doorbell rang and I stayed put as my father answered it.

"Ah, Mrs. Julien!" I heard him exclaim, and I looked up to see a woman about Mom's age coming towards us. Walking close to his mother was the boy my father had told me about, whom I was supposed to be very nice to because 'the Juliens are our friends.' I pursed my small lips together as I took in my first impression of him. He was about my height, with brown hair, but I couldn't see his face because it was buried behind a giant book that looked pretty heavy to carry around. The woman stopped in front of my dad and me, but the boy tucked himself behind her legs upon stopping.

"It's so good to see you," the woman said. I could tell that her voice was a mixture of true gratefulness and utter desperation, though I didn't yet have the skills to figure out why. Later I'd learn that my parents were helping the Juliens financially. "I can't thank you enough," she said, then turned to her son and tapped him on the shoulder. "Sanjay, come say hi to Mr. Charu, and to this lovely little lady."

The boy looked up from his book briefly. "Hello," he said in a forced polite voice, then turned his head to me, repeated the motion, and quickly returned to his reading.

"Oh, give me that," Mrs. Julien sighed, and plucked the book out of her son's hands (to which he responded with a very upset "hey!"). She turned to my dad. "I'm terribly sorry for his behavior… he's quite the bookworm," she sighed.

"It's no problem," my dad chuckled, with his trademark good-natured laugh. Mom always said that laugh was what got him where he was in life. "Darling, introduce yourself," he said to me gently, and gave me a nudge on the shoulder.

"Hello! I'm Agamya," I said, reaching out my hand politely for a handshake. The boy across from me just stared back, suspicion and unfriendliness written all over his face. He clearly wished he were somewhere else.

"I'm Sanjay," he responded, but made no motion towards my hand. I hesitated. My parents never taught me what to do if the person didn't shake back. I decided to just move onto the next step, which was small talk.

"What's that book you're reading about?" I asked, forming the unshaken hand into a pointing finger and motioning towards the oversized book. Mrs. Julien looked like she was about to answer, but her son did so first.

"Thermodynamic processes," he answered in a straight, cold tone. His mother again tried to interject, but I was already speaking before I realized she'd meant to make a remark.

"Oh. Isobaric, Isochoric, Isothermal, or Adiabatic?" I asked.

I sometimes surprised adults when I talked about science or math, but never had I ever witnessed someone look _so_ shocked about my more-than-average knowledge. Sanjay's jaw dropped— then suddenly, in some frenzy of excitement or surprise, he gripped me by the collar of my shirt and pulled me towards him, forcing me to look him in the eye.

"You understand thermodynamics?!" he exclaimed. I heard my dad make some comment about 'told you they would get along,' or something like that, but to be honest I wasn't really paying attention. Now that the book was out of the way and I was (much) closer to Sanjay, I could see his face with perfect clarity. He had dark, defined eyebrows, unusually long eyelashes for a boy, and blue eyes that I swear were currently filled with a million sparkles and stars. He gazed at me eagerly, as if he were desperate to know that I could understand what he said.

"Y—yeah," I stammered, not trying to break his grip. I was at a loss for words. _How_ were his eyes sparkling like that? I liked to learn, and I'd been told before that I was smart, but I was pretty sure I didn't light up like the sun every time I solved a math problem. Sanjay, on the other hand, was practically bursting with energy and an eagerness to find out what I knew. He seemed almost hungry for knowledge.

"All right, you two," I heard my father say as he pried me gently away from the boy. "Agamya, why don't you show Sanjay your room? You can talk science in there. Mrs. Julien and I have a few things to discuss in the kitchen." I nodded meekly and followed instructions, leading the strange science boy (who had completely dropped his restricted attitude and was practically bouncing as he walked) up the stairs to my room. My heart was pounding, though as I hadn't yet delved very deep into my studies of anatomy, I didn't know why. I thought it would go away, but the pounding continued for the rest of the day, keeping perfect time like a beating clock inside of my confused, tiny chest.

 _Ba-bum. Ba-bum. Ba-bum._

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(A/N: I'M BACK… with not a lot to say because tbh I have like 10,000 headcanons I want to discuss here but I have a feeling that'd get annoying. Anyways, hope this oneshot wasn't too self-indulgent and that you guys enjoyed it! "^^ A million thanks to everyone who left nice comments about Agamya on SDLPC, I love you guys so much ^_^)


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